Cleckheaton 48 - 8 Morpeth

The long season came to an end with a seven try victory over game opponents who never gave up.
 
Cleckheaton had several regulars unavailable for various reasons, most noteworthy being the absence of skipper Paul Turner who was on duty with Yorkshire against Cheshire at Sheffield.  After a slow start, an inevitable consequence of the Club dinner taking place the night before, the 1st XV put on a show of sublime rugby to finish off the season in a manner they will be looking to start the next one.
 
The visitors from the North East, bouyed by league survival via a losing bonus point last week at Wheatley Hills, started well. A fine touchfinder following a Cleck infringement earned them a throw in to a lineout just inside the Cleck 22m. An adeptly set up catch and drive proved too well organised and the Morpeth pack drove the 20m to score wide out , the conversion was missed.
 
The home side soon hit back and five minutes later Iain Gordon was successful with his first penalty. The scoring continued with the Cleck pack showing they too can catch and drive with the best of them leading to an Ed Chappelow try. Just prior to half time Cleckheaton really began to hit their stride and turn on the style, James Wilson finished a fluid movement with a try which was instigated by one of several mid field breaks by player coach Pete Murphy, converted by Iain Gordon.

Tries from Martin Woodhead, who again showed his instinctive finishing capabilites, Mark Sergeant the ever on hand and abrasive backrower and two from leading try scorer Ross Hayden bringing his season tally to a club record 25 tries emphasised the difference in class of the two back lines, but the crunching tackle, gathering of the ball and sprint to the line by Lee Queeley was the highlight of the match in the seventieth minute.

The match bonus point gave Cleckheaton 19 for the season and the best total in the league. Proving that when they win they often win well and when they loose it`s often within a score, a recipe that if head coach David Harrison and his team can fine tune, Cleckheaton will be serious title contenders next term.